


let’s go, don’t wait

by gennified



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Date, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26776189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gennified/pseuds/gennified
Summary: “What’s wrong with him?” Julie asks, after Alex misses the beat of the chorus for the third time in a row, and in a spat of frustration, kicks his hi-hat over.“He might have a date,” Reggie replies with a waggle of his eyebrows.“And that’s a problem?”“The problem is,” starts Luke with heavy exasperation, “That it’s totally a date, but Alex is too busy convincing himself that it’s not.”
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 902





	let’s go, don’t wait

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from blink-182's "first date" which would have absolutely been playing through alex's head if he didn't die before it was released. thank you to @jaeanneee for beta reading this for me!

“What’s wrong with him?” Julie asks, after Alex misses the beat of the chorus for the third time in a row, and in a spat of frustration, kicks his hi-hat over.

“He might have a date,” Reggie replies with a waggle of his eyebrows. 

“And that’s a problem?” 

“The problem is,” starts Luke with heavy exasperation, “That it’s totally a date, but Alex is too busy convincing himself that it’s not.” 

“I’m confused, I thought you and Willie were already dating. Or did you break up, and there’s another cute ghost boy…” she trails off, wondering how many eligible gay ghost boys are actually hanging around Los Angeles. 

“No, they totally are dating already. But they’ve never been on a _date_ ,” Reggie answers. Luke rolls his eyes from behind his mic stand. 

“Alex is right here and can talk for himself, you know.” 

Julie and the boys look at him expectantly. 

Alex sits up straighter, words on the tip of his tongue before he hesitates and sits back again. “What Reggie said.” 

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Julie replies, throwing her hands up as she walks out of the garage. “But you can’t let it mess up our rehearsal. Figure it out before practice tomorrow!” 

\-----

A few hours later, Alex’s hi-hat is back in place in his drums and Luke has run through the chorus with him at least a dozen times. Alex knows he’s doing it mostly to try to distract Alex from agonizing over his maybe-date but as soon as Luke declares that they’ve got it down, Alex’s anxiety whirls back to life. 

“It might not be a date.” 

“Oh my god, shut up, Alex.” Luke throws a balled-up scrap of paper with failed song lyrics at him. “It is a date. He literally called himself your ‘boofriend’ when he was here yesterday.” 

“‘Boofriend’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘boyfriend,’ though,” Reggie says, and Alex shoots a finger gun his way. “He might have just been trying to be cute.”

“He’s so cute,” Alex agrees. Reggie shoots a finger gun back at him.

“He was trying to be cute, because he was asking you out on a date,” says Luke, shooting a look of pure disappointment at Reggie. “And I swear you two have been out on a date before. Several, even. What about your romantic museum screaming session?” 

Alex crosses his arms defensively. “But that wasn’t a _date._ We were just hanging out. A date is different,” replies Alex.

“Why? Because on a date you’ll hold hands? Share flirty smiles?” 

He mumbles his response. “Well, we already did that.” 

“Exactly!” replies Luke. “So you’ve been on a date. Now stop obsessing over this one. The dude clearly likes you. Deal with it. You’re going on a date with him on Friday if Reggie and I have to drag you there ourselves.” 

“But--” Alex starts, and Luke sends him a death glare. Too bad Alex is already dead. “-- I don’t even have anything to wear.” 

\----

“I don’t really know Willie very well. Or at all,” Julie says when the boys poof Alex into her bedroom that Thursday night, flanking him on either side to prevent him from getting away. “But from the way you’ve described him to me, I don’t think he really cares what you wear.” 

“What is Flynn doing here? She can’t even see us,” asks Luke, but Julie shrugs him off. Flynn tries to wave at them but succeeds only in greeting Julie’s dresser instead. 

“Flynn has the best sense of fashion out of anyone here, especially you three, so I asked her to come help. Also, we have a music theory assignment due tomorrow, so she would have been here anyway.” 

“I know I can’t see you, but I have a very creative mind’s eye. I’ll just imagine how you look in the clothes, it’s almost as good as the real thing,” Flynn replies. She shrieks when a blue duffle bag of clothes appears on the bed next to her. 

“This is what-- Flynn, stop screaming-- this is what we have to work with,” says Reggie. 

“Why do you guys keep your clothes in bags? They’re going to get all wrinkled. Just hang them up,” Julie points out, but the boys ignore her. 

Flynn starts picking through the array of pastel colored t-shirts stuffed into the bag. “Do you have any button downs? Or anything nice, like, at all?”

“What happened to the clothes Caleb gave you?” asks Julie. 

“Oh, we burned those,” replies Alex. “It was very therapeutic.” 

“I was telling Alex that I think his best option to seduce Willie is to let him see his arms,” Luke says to Julie, before turning his attention to Alex. “You’re always covered in so many layers, dude. Let him see your hot bod.” Alex and Julie catch each other’s eyes at this, and though neither of them laugh out loud, they can both tell the other is laughing inside. 

“First of all, thank you, but second, never use the phrase ‘hot bod’ around me again.” 

Reggie looks thoughtful. “But something fitted that shows your muscles isn’t a terrible idea. Ray has this great shirt I’ve seen, it’s a white button up, but it’s short sleeves and has these little black stars all over it. Casual but not too casual. Fancy but not too fancy. It would look almost as good on you as it does on him.”

“I am not wearing dad clothes,” hisses Alex. “Julie, help me out here. I can’t wear your dad’s clothes on a date.” 

“No, no, I think Reggie’s right, actually. That shirt would look really good on you.” She pushes herself off her bed and slides on her socks across the hardwood floor to the door in excitement. “I’ll be right back.”

“Hey, did you hear that? She said I was right! Can we get that down in writing somewhere?” Luke reaches across Alex to smack Reggie. Alex turns to Flynn, his eyes pleading for help, but she has no clue what is going on, having only been able to hear Julie’s response, and she can’t see him anyway. 

\----

Ray’s shirt does fit him, much to Alex’s chagrin, and worse, it actually looks great on him. Once Flynn is filled in, she gets to work (“You can’t wear zipoff pants on a date!”) with the rest of his outfit, and before long, Alex is out of excuses for his anxiety about the date. Luke is on top of things, however, spending the next day glued to Alex’s side, asking him for help with a song lyric here or a melody there. Alex knows what he’s doing but doesn’t stop him, grateful for the distraction. Reggie, for his part, takes over when he can, offering to take him on a walk if he needs some fresh air. Alex points out that he’s not a dog, but he does appreciate the offer nonetheless. 

He and Willie had agreed that Willie would pick him up after midnight. It’s a very long day for Alex. And also for Luke and Reggie. 

When midnight finally does come, and he’s dressed up in Ray’s shirt and Reggie’s ripped jeans, cuffed to hide that fact that they’re too short, his hair done just like Flynn and Julie had instructed, Willie arrives, politely knocking from outside instead of poofing himself into the garage as he was usually wont to do. 

He moves immediately to open the door, but Reggie pushes him back, letting Luke open the door with a gentlemanly flourish for Willie, who just rolls his eyes, stopping in his tracks when he sees Alex, standing awkwardly, trying not to stuff his hands in his pockets out of anxious habit. 

Checking out Willie’s outfit, he feels something stir in his chest. It’s the same button down he had worn at Caleb’s club but without the blazer over top, and his usual shorts. He looks good, Alex admits, but Alex isn’t sure if it could be called a date outfit. Hesitantly, Alex puts a tick in the “not-date” column he has written in his mind. No flowers, either. Alex wasn’t sure why part of him had wanted flowers, or even if he really did want them, but he puts another tick. Two for “not-date.” But, Alex notices, there’s no skateboard or helmet in sight. He adds a tick to the “date” column.

“Wow. You look great.” Willie looks a little dazed, and Alex can barely detect a hit of red across his checks. Date? 

When Alex takes too long to respond, Reggie lightly kicks his shin. “Thanks. I had some help.” He wonders why he admitted that out loud. Willie doesn’t seem to mind, though, his eyes tracing over Alex’s body once again. “So, you ready to head out?

“Yeah! Let’s go.” Willie beams as he starts to the door, but Reggie moves like he’s about to say something. Alex smacks him in the stomach before he gets the chance. 

Unfortunately, Luke gets to it in Reggie’s stead. “Make sure to have him back before midnight!” 

Confused, Willie responds, “But it’s already after midnight.” 

“I know, I just always wanted to say something like that,” Luke replies with a cheeky smile. “Have fun, you two!”

“I’m sorry about them,” Alex starts as soon as they are outside of the garage with the door firmly shut. He knows his bandmates are undoubtedly watching through the windows, so he turns to give them a glare for posterity’s sake. 

“It’s fine, it’s cute. They really care about you.”

“In their own way, yeah,” Alex agrees. “So, where are we going?”

“ _That_ is still a secret. It’s a bit of a ways to travel, but I think we’ll be fine.” A mischievous look plays across Willie’s face. “Just take my hand and follow my lead.” He offers up his hand to Alex, who accepts it gratefully. He feels a tug on his core and follows it, poofing towards the destination Willie has in mind.

\----

“Oh, that really was a long one,” Alex gasps, doubling over as soon they reappear. He didn’t know ghosts could feel nauseous, but he does. It takes a moment for the feeling to pass, but soon, he’s feeling fine again, standing back up to take in their surroundings.

“I’m sorry. You’ll get better at longer distances the more you do it. Are you okay?” asks Willie with concern etched in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I--” Alex pauses, taking in for the first time the scenery around him. “Are we at Disneyland?”

“Yep. I like to come here to skate when it’s still open, with all the people and music, but I thought you’d be more comfortable if it were less crowded,” Willie replies with a soft smile. “I wanted to make sure you’d be comfortable.” 

Alex is overwhelmed with the thought that Willie put that much care into planning their outing. He adds another check to the “date” column. 

“So this place is totally empty?” 

Willie shrugs. “Not completely, but as empty as it’ll ever get. There’s security, and some maintenance people. Also, Disney after dark is a bit of a romantic hotspot for ghosts so we might run into some of them.” Willie doesn’t meet his eyes on that last part, a hit of nervous energy radiating in his voice.

“Awesome.” Every mark in the “not-date” column is erased, and Alex feels lighter than he has all week. “Can we ride the rides?” 

\----

They can, in fact. Willie has been here enough in the decades since his death that he’s learned how to start the rides with just a wave of his fingers. Security is alerted each time, showing up in the loading dock just as Alex and Willie’s car arrives from their trip around Big Thunder Mountain. They fall into each other laughing as the security officer furiously calls maintenance to tell them that the ride is malfunctioning. 

They explore all over. It’s Alex’s first time, despite growing up in L.A., and he savors the magic of having the park almost entirely to themselves. They do spot a few other ghosts around the park. As Willie predicted they are almost all couples, but no one pays each other any mind. 

Willie wants to take him on nearly every ride, but Alex feels bad for the hassle it causes for the employees, so they just settle on a few. Haunted Mansion is a must and Alex appreciates the irony of it all only slightly less than he appreciates the way Willie puts his arm around them as soon as they slide in the buggy. 

Throughout the night, Willie pulls him into several gift shops, telling him to take whatever he wants. “The mouse won’t miss any of the money,” he points out, which Alex wholeheartedly agrees with. Despite that, he struggles to find something he wants. So much of the merchandise is for films he’s never seen, released after he died. 

“We’ll do a crash course before we come next time,” Willie promises him, the words “next time” imprinting themselves on Alex’s heart. 

After they’ve ridden through Space Mountain twice, Willie tugs at his hand. “Come on, let’s sit down somewhere for a bit.” Alex follows Willie’s lead, poofing away.

\---

It feels like they are on top of the world, Alex thinks, when they poof to the roof of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Almost instinctively, Alex asks, “Is it safe to be up here?” as if he had forgotten for a moment that they were dead.

Willie just laughs at him, patting him on the shoulder. They sit in silence for a moment, savoring the cool California air and the lights splayed out around them. 

Alex breaks the silence with a soft voice. “It’s so nice up here. Calm.”

Willie nods, pulling his knees closer to him. “Yeah, I like to come here by myself. Even when the park is open and the crowds are huge, you can be alone up here. It’s nice.” He pauses, then laughs to himself, remembering something. “A couple times I’ve tried to skate my way down the roof and into the moat. Never ended well, but always a thrill.”

“Sounds like the tagline of your biography,” Alex laughs. 

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” asks Willie. “You were in a punk band. I know you’ve got some stories.”

“One time I got suspended from school,” offers Alex, as he watches Willie’s eyes brighten a few degrees.

“No way! I never would have expected that from you. What’d you do?” 

“I punched a homophobe.” 

“Nice!” Willie grins and gives Alex a high five. “I’m so proud of you.”

Alex grins back. “Thanks.” He doesn’t continue the story, with how the school told his parents what happened, and how angry they had been. Instead, his hand still tingles from where Willie had touched it, his approval outweighing years of Alex’s anger at his parents. “I’m not that straight edge, you know. We did have to get fake IDs to play all those bars back then since we were underage. We got up to plenty of crazy shit.”

Willie’s grin widens. “My little rebel.” There’s a warmth to his voice as he says it, the word “my” hitting Alex straight in the heart and sending electricity from his center to his finger tips. He reaches out for Willie’s hand, cradling it gently as they look out at the park below them. 

Releasing Alex’s hand, Willie sits up a little straighter, as if a lightbulb has just gone off in his mind. “Wait right here, bro, I’ll be right back.” 

Before Alex has a chance to respond, Willie is gone, leaving him alone on the roof of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. In the distance he can see another ghost couple walking, two women that Alex guesses are in their mid-forties. He wonders why he never thought of Disneyland as the perfect place to go on a ghost date. 

Within a few seconds, Willie poofs back right where he was before, this time holding a small stuffed animal.

“Simba!” Alex reaches out for it with a grin as Willie hands it over.

“Oh good, you’ve seen it. I was worried maybe you hadn’t,” he replies, eyes raking over Alex for his reaction to the gift. Alex is thrilled, holding the Simba plush and giving it a small scratch behind the ears.

“Yeah, it came out the summer before… I took my sister to see it,” he says, looking down at the stuffed animal, welcoming the nostalgia of the memory even as he tries to push away the sadness that comes with it. He’s gotten better at doing that lately. “So why Simba? Not that I’m complaining. And thank you, of course.” 

Willie smiles back, leaning in a bit. “Because we’re working on your roar.” 

Before Alex has a chance to question him, Willie is up, yelling for all of Anaheim to hear. Willie’s voice echoes across the park, the ghost couple walking down Main Street jumping at the sound. Alex laughs as Willie pulls him up to stand next to him. “Your turn.” 

Nodding, Alex takes a deep breath. He releases all the anxieties from the week, his worries about the date or the upcoming gig the band has booked, into the night sky. It’s just as cathartic as it had been in the museum, throwing his head back and yelling with every ounce of strength he can muster, forcing his fears out and reveling in the lightness that comes with it. 

In the ecstasy of screaming out his fears to the world, his balance on the slanted roof of the castle shifts, and teeters precariously towards the edge. Willie reaches out for him immediately, hands going to Alex’s waist to pull him close and stabilize him. 

Alex turns to thank him but gets caught in Willie’s eyes and the way they are looking up at him. Willie lifts his chin, either asking for permission or giving it, Alex isn’t sure, but he takes it, meeting Willie’s lips with his own. 

Time seems to stop, and it begins to feel as though they are losing their balance again as Willie’s hands tighten on his hips, drawing him closer. If Alex still had a heartbeat, it would be fluttering in his chest, but he can at least feel a rush of overpowering warmth and affection race through his veins. It’s pure bliss and all too brief when they pull apart, sharing shy smiles and soft laughs with each other. 

A part of Alex had worried kissing ghost lips might somehow be different, that there would be a coldness in it. But that wasn’t the case at all, the heat of Willie’s lips on his own leaving a trace even after they had pulled apart. He let out a giddy laugh as he sat back down, pulling Willie by the hand to join him.

“What’s so funny?”

Alex shakes his head, pulling Willie closer and resting his head on his shoulder. It’s nearing sunrise already, but Alex wishes this night would last forever.

\----

It’s seven in the morning when Alex poofs back into the loft, Simba in hand and elation etched in all of his features. Luke and Reggie are both on the couch, Luke scribbling in his notebook and Reggie’s nose buried in a young adult novel that Flynn had lent him. They both look up when he arrives and with one look at Alex’s face, give each other a high five. 

“Looks like you had a good time-- wait, is that Simba? He took you to Disneyland?” The jealousy is inherent in Luke’s voice and it only makes Alex smile wider. 

“Disneyland? Are you for real?” Reggie echoes, throwing his book to the side. 

“The happiest place on earth,” Alex replies, squeezing between them on the couch. He knows his friends and he knows they are going to want to hear all of the details. “And get this, they built a Star Wars theme park inside of Disneyland.” 

“Are you serious? Dude, we have to go there. Can we go now? Or later today at least? I have to see this.” 

Reggie babbles on as Alex sits back, his fingers brushing over his lips where he can still feel a trace of Willie. He knows there is no way any date he could plan would top what Willie has given to him, but he isn’t as anxious about the future they’ll share together now that he knows the magic that’s possible when they’re together.


End file.
